Photocomposing apparatus and justifying apparatus



Dec. 4, 1956 w. WILIIJAMS 2,772,613

PHOTOCOMPOSING APPARATUS AND JUSTIFYING APPARATUS Filed March 18, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 3:14]. INVENTOR.

WOODBUR) WILLIAMS ATTORNEY W. WILLIAMS Dec. 4, 1956 PHOTOCOMPOSING APPARATUS AND JUSTIFYING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 18, 1955 INVENT OR ATTORNEYS woooau/av W/LLIAM$ Dec. 4, 1956 w. WILLIAMS 2,772,613

PHOTOCOMPOSING APPARATUS AND JUSTIFYING APPARATUS Filed March 18, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 lhlfllllflillrllr JIIIIIIII- IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII II IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHI T a. =.l5 WOODBURV WILLIAMS ATTORNEY INVENT OR Dec. 4, 1956 w. WILLIAMS 2,772,613

PHOTOCOMPOSING APPARATUS AND JUSTIFYING APPARATUS Filed March 18, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR WOODBUR Y WIL L/AMS BY ATTORNEYS Dec. 4, 1956 w. WILLIAMS 2,772,613

PHOTOCOMPOSING APPARATUS AND JUSTIFYING APPARATUS Filed March 18, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 v I INVENTOR WOODBURY WILLIAMS United States Patent PHOTOCOMPOSING APPARATUS AND JUSTIFYILJG APPARATUS Wood-bury Williams, Rockville Centre, N. Application March 18, 1955, Serial No. 495,115

18 Claims. (Cl. 95--4.5)

This invention relates to the graphic arts and more particularly to a photocomposing apparatus for providing an exposed film containing properly composed and justified material and also to a justifying apparatus which may be applied to a conventional typewriter.

It is considered that a commercially practical photocomposing machine must operate on a letter by letter principle and at a high speed, as well as being substantially fully automatic. The machine must also provide perfect spacing for each letter and also must be capable of automatically justifying each line of composition. Furthermore, the machine should provide a visual indication of the letters being composed and should provide means whereby errors may be corrected prior to exposing of the film.

it is also desirable that a photocornposing apparatus be relatively small and convenient to use and of a character which permits convenient installation and removal of film in daylight and also the cost of construction of such photocomposing apparatus should not be prohibitive. It is furthermore desirable, that a photocomposing appaartus be provided with mechanism, or be so constructed that such mechanism may be conveniently applied thereto, to permit, what is known in the art, as kerning or in other words, to vary the spacing between certain of the characters whereby such characters overlap, thereby eliminating the illusion that certain characters are spaced more widely than other characters.

Heretofore, many attempts have been made to provide photocomposing machines which meet the above requirements and in which the cost is not prohibitive, but in the main, these prior efforts resulted in extremely large, complicated and costly machines which has prohibited the use of such machines in the smaller print shops and, in fact, the complexity of these prior art machines has rendered the maintenance thereof, quite diflicult and costly.

As is Well known, conventional typewriters do not provide justified lines of printing, or in other words, lines which all end at substantially the same place, and since the appearance of justified copy is far superior to the printing normally provided by a typewriter, it [is considered highly desirable to provide a relatively simple, yet highly effective apparatus which may be applied to a conventional typewriter and which will provide substantially automatic justification thereby producing typewritten copy closely resembling printed copy.

Prior efforts to provide justifying typewriters have resulted in extremely complex mechanism and these prior art machines have also been extremely costly and subject to frequent breakdown, which has precluded widespread use of the same.

it is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a photocomposing apparatus of relatively simple and economical construction which will, in general, meet all of the requirements for a commercially practical photocomposing machine.

2,772,613 Patented Dec. 4, 1956 A further object of the invention is the provision of a photocomposing apparatus which essentially consists in modifying a conventional typewriter to permit correct composition and justification and to provide an exposed film carrying the completed copy.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a photocomposing apparatus incorporating back spacing means which permits the correction of errors in characters prior to exposing the film to such characters.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a photocomposing apparatus in which a written record visible to the operator is provided, in order that the composition may be checked prior to exposing the film.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a photocomposing apparatus which may be conveniently modified to permit kerning.

A still further object of the invention is the provision a photocomposing apparatus in which each line of composition may be automatically justified, regardless of the number of words appearing in the line.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a photocomposing machine in which predetermined spacing for any character or group of characters may he provided.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a photocompcsing machine in which each line of composition is automatically justified and in which the justifying mechanism automatically returns to zero preparatory to justifying the next line of composition.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a photocomposing apparatus which maybe constructed upon a frame little larger than the conventional typewriter and which is of [relatively simple construction thereby materially reducing maintenance costs.

Another object of the invention is the provision of justifying apparatus which may be incorporated in a conventional typewriter, either by modifying the present typewriters to incorporate the same, or by redesigning the typewriter to be built in the first instance, including such justifying apparatus.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a justifying apparatus for a typewriter which will automatically operate to justify each line of printing and which will not materially add to the physical size of such typewriter.

Another object of the invention is the provision of photocomposing apparatus and justifying apparatus for a typewriter of such design and construction that character spacing and word spacing may be maintained to very close tolerances and in which normal Wear of the parts will not result in any material change in such spacing.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will e apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective showing a photocomposing apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2, a fragmentary view in perspective with parts broken away for greater clarity and showing a portion of the exposed film as well as a portion of the optical system utilized for exposing such film;

Pig. 3, a fragmentary view in perspective showing a type bar and the manner of supporting character outlines thereon;

Pig. 4, a fragmentary side elevational view of the type bar and character support shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5, a front elevational view of a shutter mechanism actuated by operation of each type bar to expose the film to a single character;

Fig. 6, a fragmentary top plan view of the character spacing mechanism as well as the justifying mechanism a utilized in the photocomposing apparatus of this invention;

Fig. 7, a fragmentary front elevational view of the character spacing mechanism shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8, a side elevational view of one of the character spacing ratchet Wheels together with the associated escapement mechanism and operating means therefor;

Fig. 9, a side elevational view of a character spacing ratchet wheel as well as the associated escapement mechanism;

Fig. 10, an end elevational view of one of the character spacing ratchet wheels and the escapement mechanism;

Fig. 11, a front elevational View of the escapement mechanism utilized for controlling the step by step movement of the character spacing ratchet wheels;

Fig. 12, an end elevational view of the escapement mechanism shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 13, a top plan view of the escapement mechanism shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 14, an end elevational view of the shaft utilized to support the character spacing ratchet wheels;

Fig. 15, a side elevational view of the character wheel supporting shaft;

Fig. 16, a side elevational View of the back spacing mechanism utilized in conjunction with the character spacing ratchet wheels;

Fig. 17, a side elevational view of the justifying drum and the brake mechanism associated therewith;

Fig. 18, an end elevational view of the justifying drum shown in Fig. 1.7 and showing the spring return means for such drum;

Fig. 19, a diagrammatic view showing the control lever and linkage system for operating the character spacing ratchet wheels in response to the operation of the key bar of the typewriter;

Fig. 20, a fragmentary perspective view showing a portion of the control lever and linkage system for operating the character spacing ratchet wheels;

Fig. 21, a fragmentary top plan view of the mechanism for obtaining the difierence in character spacing required by upper and lower case characters;

Fig. 22, a front elevational view of an escapement mechanism utilized in conjunction with the justifying drum;

Fig. 23, a side elevational view of the escapement mechanism shown in Fig. 22;

Fig. 24, a top plan view of the escapement shown in Fig. 22;

Fig. 25, a side elevational view of one of the escapement pawls utilized in the escapement mechanism of Fig. 22;

Fig. 26, a side elevational view of the other escapement pawl utilized in the escapement mechanism of Fig. 22; and

Fig. 27, a perspective view showing a typewriter incorporating the justifying mechanism of this invention.

With continued reference to the drawing, there is shown in Fig. l a typewriter, having the usual base or frame and provided with a slidably mounted carriage covered by suitable hood or housing 11, there being a roller within the housing 111 and mounted on the carriage, such roller serving to receive and feed a photographic film 12 which may be contained in a film magazine 13 mounted on the carriage. The carriage is also provided with the usual carriage return bar 14 which serves to rotate the roller and advance the film 112 the distance between lines of characters to be printed. The typewriter is further provided with finger engaging keys 15, key bars 16, shift keys 1.7 and a space bar 118. The keys 15 and key bars 16 serve to operate type bars 19 in a conventional manner and for purposes of illustration, there is shown in Fig. 19, a key bar 16 pivotally mounted at 20 on a suitable part of the frame 10, the key bar 16 being connected through a link or flexible member 21 with the type bar 19 which in turn is pivotally mounted at 22 on the frame it} of the typewriter.

Mounted on the frame 10 of the typewriter is a plate 23 having an aperture 24 therein and to the rear of the plate 23 and in alignment with the aperture 24 is an optical system, not shown, which may be contained in a suitable housing, such as a tube 25. Slidably mounted on the plate 23 is a slide 26 having an aperture 27 and the slide 26 may be operated by a key 28 on the frame it) to move the slide 26 into position with the aperture 2'7 in alignment with the aperture 24 in the plate 2.3, or upon a suitable operation of the key 28, the slide 26 may be moved to close the aperture 24 in the plate 23. light source, not shown, is mounted on the frame 10 and serves to project beam of light 29 through the aperture 27 in the slide 26 and through the aperture 24 in the plate 23 to the optical system 25 which serves to focus such beam of light on the photographic film 12.

Mounted on the rear of the plate 23 is a shutter 30 which may be pivotally mounted at 31 and which may be urged into position closing the aperture 24 in the plate 23 by a tension spring or other suitable means 32, there being a stop 33 provided to prevent movement of the shutter 3t beyond a predetermined position. The shutter 3t? may be operated by a cam 34 having a portion 35 projecting through the plate 23 and engageable by the type bar 19 upon operation of the same and movement of the shutter 30 may be retained in the desired path by a guide 36 attached to the plate 23 and overlying a portion of the shutter 30.

Also provided on the frame 1th of the typewriter are spools 37 and 38 which serve to receive and feed a paper tape 39, which tape moves through guides 49 provided on the front face of the plate 23 and the paper tape 39 serves to receive a printed impression of a type face 41' carried on each type bar 19. in this manner, all characters which may be printed by operating the keys 15 are impressed on the paper tape 39 which provides a visual record for the operator of the apparatus.

The carriage ll of the typewriter is provided with the usual rack bar, not shown, and the forward movement of the carriage 11 is controlled through this rack bar by the mechanism shown in Figs. 6 and 7. With particular reference to these figures, there is shown a base 41 with slides 42 slidably mounted on guideways 4-3 on the frame it and the base 41 is provided adjacent each end thereof, with upstanding bearing blocks 44 and 45. These bearing blocks serve to rotatably mount a shaft 46 provided on one end with a pinion d7 which meshes with the rack bar, not shown, on the carriage ll. Consequently, upon forward or rearward movement of the carriage 11, the shaft 46 will be rotated by engagement of the rack bar with the pinion 47. As shown in Figs. 14 and 15, the shaft 46 is provided with a. keyway 5-7 extending throughout substantially the length thereof. The purpose and operation of this keyway 4'7 will be later described.

As is well known, certain characters require greater spacing than other characters and for instance, the character W requires a much greater spacing than the character Ii. Since, however, several characters require substantially the same spacing, it is unnecessary to provide separate character spacing means for each character, but certain characters may be grouped together in conjunction with a single character spacing means. For the purpose of providing proper character spacing in the photocomposing apparatus of this invention, there may be provided a plurality of character spacing units 48 mounted on the shaft 46 and it is considered that a detailed description of one of these units will suffice for all of such units, since the structure thereof is substantially the same, the only difference between the unit being in the spacing resulting from operation of each unit.

With particular reference to Figs. 8 to 13, each character spacing unit 48 may comprise a ratchet wheel 49 having ratchet teeth 58 on the circumference thereof and the pitch of such teeth or, in other words, the distance from a point on one tooth to a corresponding point on the next tooth will be sufficient to advance the carriage 11 the required amount upon rotation of the ratchet wheel 49 from one tooth to the next. The ratchet wheel 49 is provided with an enlarged hub 58' and such hub is provided at one side thereof with a radially extending boss 51 having an axially extending, substantially rectangular recess 52 therein. Recess 52 serves to slidably receive an escapement mechanism 53 which, as best shown in Figs. 11 to 13, may comprise a generally rectangular block 54 on the forward end of which is pivotally mounted a pawl 55 on a pivot pin 56 extending into the block 54. The pawl 55 is relieved or provided with a curved surface 57 at the upper corner, in order to permit the pawl 55 to pivot in one direction. The pawl 55 is provided at the lower end thereof with a tapered tooth 58 for engaging the ratchet teeth 50 on the ratchet wheel 49 and integral with the block 5 3 but offset transversely and axially from the pawl 55 is a second pawl 59 which is integral with the block 54 or rigidly attached thereto. The pawl 59 is provided at the lower end thereof with a tapered tooth 6B and the distance between the teeth 58 and 6% is substantially equal to the distance between adjacent ratchet teeth 59 on the ratchet wheel 49. The block 54 is provided with a recess 61 in the upper surface thereof for receiving the lower end 62 of a lever 63 pivoted at 64 on the boss 51 of the hub 50. The opposite end 65 of the lever 63 may be operated by a mechanism to be described for moving the block 54 in the recess to actuate the escapement mechanism. it is to be noted, that the blccl; 5'4 is provided with a recess 66 rearwardly of the pawl 55 and in alignment with the rearwar ly disposed pawl 59 and this recess 66 is provided to permit the ratchet teeth 5'0 of the ratchet wheels 49 to move rearwardly upon forward movement of the block 54 during operation of the escapement mechanism 53.

Mechanism is provided for operating the escapements S3 in response to operation of one or more of the keys 15 on the apparatus and a portion of this mechanism may take the form of a ring 67 surrounding the hub 5t) of each character spacing unit 48 and the ring 67 is secured in any suitable manner to the base 41, in order to prevent movement of the ring 67. Slidably and rotatably received within the ring 67 and surrounding the hub 50' of the ratchet wheel 49 is a thimble 68 having a barrel portion 69 extending within the ring 67 and the barrei portion 69 is provided with a plurality of angularly disposed slots 78 therein. The ring 67 carries a plurality of pins "/1 engaging in the cam slots 70 and there is a further cam slot 72 provided in the ring 67 which serves to slidably receive an elongated pin 73 secured to the barrel 6'7 of the thirnble 68 and projecting outwardly from the ring 67 a sufficient distance to permit attachment thereto of a link or flexible member which is utilized to operate each character spacing unit 58. This operatir" linkage will be later described. The thimble 68 is provided with a tiered annnular flange 74, which upon axial movement of the thimble 68 serves to engage the outer end 65 of the lever 63 to move the block 54 of the escapernent 53 in the recess 52 of the boss 51. Axial movement of the thimble 68 within the ring 67 is accomplished by moving the pin 73 up or down, as viewed in Fig. 8, which results in the pins and cam slots moving the thimble 68 to the left or right, as viewed in Fig. 8. it is to be noted, that each ratchet wheel 49 is provided with pawl 75 pivotally mounted at 76 and provided with a tapered portion 77 and the purpose of this pawl 75 will be later described.

The arrangement of the character spacing units 48 in the apparatus of this invention is best shown in Figs. 6 and 7 and with particular reference to these figures,

there is a first ratchet wheel 78 received on the shaft 46 and ratchet wheel 78 is provided with a hub 79 which is fixed to the shaft 46 by a pin or other suitable means 80. Surrounding the first ratchet wheel 78 is a character spacing unit A which comprises merely a ring 67 together with a thirnble 68 and immediately following this assembly is a complete character spacing unit 48 including a ratchet wheel 49 together with the associated escapement and escapement operating mechanism described above. The ring 67 and thimble 68 of the character spacing unit A cooperates with a lever 63 on the next succeeding character spacing unit 48 which has been designated as B to permit movement of the first character spacing ratchet wheel 78 and the shaft 46 a distance corresponding to the distance between two adjacent teeth on the character spacing wheel 48. This rotation of shaft 46 and the pinion 47 carried thereby will, of course, result in the carriage of the apparatus moving a corresponding distance.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, there are eleven character spacing units received on the shaft 46 and each one of these serves to operate an escapement which cooperates with and engages the teeth on the preceding ratchet wheel 49 which upon actuation of such escapement results in rotating the shaft 46 and all of the previous character spacing units the distance between two adjacent teeth on the particular character spacing wheel 49 with which the escapement being operated, engages. A twelfth character spacing unit in the form of a ratchet wheel 81 is received on the shaft 46 adjacent the bearing blocl; 45% and an escapement 82 is carried by the bearing block 45 and cooperates with the ratchet wheel 81. Operation of the escapement 82 serves to permit the ratchet wheel 81 and all of the character spacing units 48 on the shaft 46 to revolve together with the shaft 46, a distance equal to the spacing of the teeth on the ratchet wheel 81.

Since during operation of the machine, the character spacing units 48 will move different angular distances depending upon which characters are utilized and upon how many times the same character is utilized and consequently, it is necessary that upon completion of the forward movement of the carriage and return thereof to original position, that all of the ratchet wheels 49 of the character spacing units 48 be also returned to original position upon rearward movement of the carriage. This operation is accomplished by the spring pressed pawls 75 on the character spacing ratchet wheels 49, the teeth 77 of such pawls engaging the keyway 47 in the shaft 46 as the same is moved rearwardly by rearward movement of the carriage, whereby all of the character spacing units 48 will be moved to original position upon completion of the rearward movement of the carriage.

While the construction and operation of the escapement 53 is conventional and is similar to that commonly employed in conventional typewriters, a brief description of the operation of this escapement will be given. Assuming the block 54 to be retracted in the recess 52, one of the ratchet teeth 59 on the ratchet wheel 49 will engage the fiat face of the pivoted pawl 55 and consequently, the ratchet wheel 49 will be held from rotation. Projection of the block 54 by operation of the lever 63 will result in the ratchet tooth in engagement with the pawl 5'5 moving rearwardly into the recess 66 and upon disengagement from the pawl 55, the ratchet wheel 49 will move until the tooth previously engaged with the pawl 55' engages the flat face of the fixed pawl 59. This results in movement of the ratchet wheel 49, a distance equal to the distance adjacent ratchet teeth 50. After this movement, retraction of the block 54 results in the next tooth 5t) engaging the pawl 55 to prevent further rotation of the ratchet wheel 49. Rotation of the ratchet wheel 49 in the opposite direction is, of course, permitted by the pivotal mounting of the pawl In order to operate each of the pins 73 in the character spacing units 48 to produce a resultant movement of the carriage, there may be provided a plurality of rock shafts 83 mounted on the frame and there is one of these rock shafts, as shown in Fig. 6, for each of the spacing units 48. These rock shafts 83 extend beneath the character spacing units 48 on the shafts 46 and a portion 84 of each shaft 43 is splined, as shown at 84 in Fig. 6, and likewise, in Fig. 19, and mounted on this splined portion 84 of each shaft 83 is an arm 85 which may be connected by a flexible member or link 86 with the pin 73 on the associated character spacing unit 48. Consequently, upon pivotal movement of the rock shaft 83, the connected pin 73 will be actuated through the arm 85 and this operation will take place, even though the base 41 may move axially of the rock shaft 83 for a purpose to be later described.

As best shown in Fig. 20, each rock shaft 33 is provided with a downwardly extending lip 37 and below each rock shaft 83 is a rod 88 mounted in the base 1, each rod serving to support a plurality of pivotally mounted fingers 89 which are adapted to engage a lip 87 and upon pivotal movement of the fingers it? serve to move the rock shaft 83 and the arm 85 carried thereby. Each finger 85 is connected by a link or suitable flexible element 9t) with one arm 91 of a bell crank lever 92 which is pivotally mounted at 93 on a bar carried by the frame 10. The other arm 14 of the bell crank lever 92 is provided, on its under side, with a ll-shaped groove 95, as best shown in Fig. 20. A rocker arm 96 is pivotally mounted on a bar 97 secured to the frame 10 and the rocker arm 6 is provided at one end with a portion 98 having a V-shaped upper surface intended to engage in and mate with the V-shaped groove in the bell crank lever 92. The opposite end 1% of the rocker arm 96 is connected by a suitable link or flexible element 11H with the key bar 16.

As will be seen from an inspection of Figs. and 2], there is provided one rocker arm 9d for each key bar 16 and adjacent rocker arms 96 are separated by collars 102. There are two bell crank levers 92 for each rocker arm 96 and, as shown in Fig. 21, the entire rocker arm assembly is urged toward the left by a compression spring 1113 received around the bar 97 and bearing against the end collar 102 and the frame 111. in this position, the rocker arms 96 will engage the left hand bell crank lever 92 of each pair. In order to move the rocker arm assembly toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 21, there may be provided a pair of collars and 135 on one end of the bar 97, these collars being spaced apart to receive a yoke 1% on the end of a lever 19] which may be pivotally mounted at 108 on the frame 11) and this lever 107 in turn is actuated by the shift keys 17 on the apparatus. Consequently, when it is desired to print lower case letters, the rocker arm assembly will be in the position, as shown in Fig. 21, and upon depression of the shift keys 17 to print upper case letters, the rocker arm assembly will be moved toward the right against the action of compression spring 1163 resulting in engagement of the rocker arms 96 with the right hand bell crank lever 92 of each pair.

The above described linkage arrangement is shown diagrammatically in Fig. l9, and as will be seen, depression of any one of the key bars 16 will result in operating the type bar 19 and, at the same time, will actuate the rocker arm 96 to cause the end 98 thereof, to engage the appropriate bell crank lever 2, thereby operating the finger 89 which in turn engages the lip 37 on the rock shaft 83 thereby actuating the associated pin 73 to operate the associated cscapement 53 cause rotation of the shaft 46 which in turn permits advancement of the carriage one space, as required by the particular character being printed. The escapement $2 for the end or last ratchet wheel 81 is operated from a rock shaft 83 through a bell crank lever 109 mounted on the base 41. The

V-shaped notches in the bell crank levers 92 and the V-shaped surface 99 on the rocker arms 96 are provided for the purpose of eliminating the necessity of accurate alignment between the rocker arms and the bell crank levers upon actuation of the shift keys, since with this arrangement, partial movement of the rocker arm assem bly and actuation of the shift keys will result in completing the alignment between these two elements due to the inter-action of the tapered surfaces on such two elements.

Since it is desirable to provide means whereby errors may be corrected, a back spacing mechanism has been included and the details of such mechanism are shown in Fig. 16. Such mechanism may well comprise a lever 5.16 pivotally mounted at 111 below the shaft 46 and it is to he noted, that there will be provided a lever 110 and associated mechanism for each character spacing unit 48. Pivotally mounted on the lever 111) at each side of the pivot point 111 and extending upwardly from the lever 110 are elongated pawls 112 and 113 and these pawls are provided with teeth 114 and 115 respectively, for engaging the teeth 51) on the ratchet wheels 49. The pawls 112 and 113 are normally urged toward the ratchet wheels 49 by a tension spring 11d connected between the pawls 112 and 113.

Pivotally mounted between the pawls 112 and 113 on a shaft 117 is an elongated cam 115 which, as shown in full lines in Fig. 16, is in position to hold the pawls 112 and 113 apart and out of engagement with the teeth 50 on the ratchet wheels 4). The shaft 117 and cams 118 carried thereby are actuated by a back spacing key on the apparatus to move the cams 118 into the dotted line positions shown in Fig. 16, at which time, the pawls 112 and 113 are moved into engagement with the teeth 5! on the ratchet wheels 49 by the action of tension spring 116.

The end of lever 110 is connected through a suitable link or flexible element 119 with an arm 120 slidably but non-rotatably mounted on splined portion 84 of each rock shaft 33 and consequently, upon operation of the rock shaft 83, the lever 110 will be actuated to move the pawl 112 upwardly and the pawl 113 downwardly and with the cam 118 in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 16, the teeth 114 and 115' in the pawls 112 and 113 will engage the teeth 59 on the ratchet wheels 49 and rotate these wheels in a reversed direction. The amount of rotation of the ratchet wheels 49 is determined by an adjustable stop comprising a screw threaded abutment 121 received in a portion of the base 41 and the abutment 121 may be adjusted to allow a suitable movement of the lever 11%. The lever 1113 may be returned to original position by compression spring 122 engaging such lever and the portion of the base 41.

In order to operate the back spacing mechanism, above described, it is only necessary to depress the back spacer key which results in moving the cams 113 to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 16, and thereafter the appropriate key bar 16 is actuated which results in moving the lever 110 and the pawls 112 and 113 attached thereto to move the carriage rearwardly the distance corresponding to the spacing of the character which was erroneously depressed.

It is to be understood, that the back spacing mechanism, above described and shown in Fig. 16, will be installed between each character spacing unit 48 and that, consequently, there will be a back spacing unit for each character, or group of characters which is connected to and associated with each back spacing unit. In this way, the carriage may be moved rearwardly a distance corresponding to the spacing of any desired characters.

Since it is necessary that each line be instilled in order that all lines will end at the same point, there is provided justifying mechanism which, as best shown in Figs. 6, l7 and 18, comprises a drum 123 rotatably mounted on the frame 10 of the apparatus and with the axis of such drum 123 substantially perpendicular to the direction of motion of the base 41 on the slides 43. It is to be noted, that during normal spacing movements of the carriage, by reason of actuation of the character spacing unit 48, as described above, that the base 41 remains stationary and it is only upon actuation of the space bar 13 that the base 41 moves and during such movement, the shaft 46 remains stationary and the carriage moves by reason of movement of the entire shaft 46 and pinion 47. Movement of the carriage 41 on actuation of the space bar 18 is controlled by a mechanism to be described in conjunction with the drum 123 forming a portion of the justifying mechanism.

The drum 123 is provided on the peripheral surface thereof with a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth 124 and it is to be noted, that the ends of such teeth are separated by a keyway 125 in the surface of the drum. It is further to be noted, that the teeth 124 vary in pitch from one end to the other, and also that each succeeding tooth has a different pitch from the preceding tooth. In other words, there are provided a plurality of ratchet teeth 124, each tooth of which varies in pitch from one end to the other, and in which all of the teeth vary in pitch from each other. At one end of the drum 123 there is provided a spiral spring 126, one end of which 127 is secured to the drum 123 and the other end 1 8 is secured to the frame 10. Consequently this spiral spring 126 tends to urge the drum 123 in one direction and rotation of the drum against the action of spring 126 will serve to wind or tighten the same and in order to hold the drum 123 in an advanced position, there is provided a brake in the form of a bar 129 pivotally mounted at 130 on the frame and having a shoe 131 for engaging the surface of the drum 123. The shoe 131 of the brake arm 129 is normally urged into engagement with the surface of the drum 123 by a compressionv spring or other suitable means 132 engaging the bar 129 and the portion of the frame 10. The shoe 131 may be moved away from the surface of the drum 123 by a link or flexible member 133 connected to the bar 129 and to a justifying key 134 on the front of the apparatus adjacent the keyboard. It is to be noted, that the drum 123 is so positioned that the base 41 may move thereover during sliding movements of such base 41.

In order to control movement of the base 41 upon operation of the space bar 18, there is provided an escapement mechanism 135 which cooperates with the ratchet teeth 124 on the drum 123 and the details of this escapement mechanism are shown in Figs. 22 to 26. With particular reference to these figures, there is provided a pair of slidable dogs 136 and 137 which are slidably mounted in the base 41 and it is to be noted, that the dog 136 is provided at the lower end thereof, with a tapered tooth 138 which projects below the lower surface of the base 41 into engagement with the teeth 124 on the drum 123. As shown in Fig. 25, the lower end of the slidable dog 136 is cut away, as shown at 139 for a purpose to be presently described. The slidable dog 137 is mounted in the base 41 at one side of the dog 136 and the dog 137 is provided with a tapered lower end 14% for engaging the teeth 124 on the drum 123. Dog 136 is provided at its upper end with a cross bar 141 in which is provided an aperture 142 and on the upper end of the dog 137 is a cross bar 143 having an aperture 144. The aperture 142 in the cross bar 141 serves to slidably receive a pin 145 secured in the base 41 and between a head 146 on the pin 145 and the cross bar 141, there is positioned a compression spring 147 which normally urges the dog 136 and tapered lower end 138 thereof into engagment with the teeth 124 on the drum 123.

Similarly the aperture 144 in the cross bar 143 of the dog 137 is slidably received on a pin 148 fixed to the base 41 and between a head 149 on the pin 148 and the it cross bar 143, there is positioned a compression spring 150 which normally urges the tapered lower end 140 into engagement with the tecth 124 on the drum 123.

In order to actuate the dogs 136 and 137, there is provided a cam 151 pivotally mounted on the base 41 and this cam is provided with a lobe 152 cooperating with the cross bar 143 and with a lobe 153 cooperating with the cross bar 141. An operating arm 154 is secured to the cam 151 and such operating arm 154 may be connected through a suitable link or flexible member 155 with the space bar 18.

Operation of the arm 154 by the space bar 18 will result in moving the cam 151 to raise the dog 137 thereby disengaging the lower end 1% thereof from a tooth 144 on the drum 123 and consequently, the base 41 will move forwardly until the lower end 138 of the dog 136 engages the next tooth 124 on the drum 123 and prevents further movement of the base 41. The cutaway portion on the dog 136 permits the base 41 to move slightly more than the distance between adjacent teeth 124 on the drum 123, whereby proper operation of the dogs 136 and 137 and the well known manner of this type of escapement, is permitted. it Will therefore, be seen, that spacing movements of the carriage will be controlled by the distance between adjacent teeth on the drum 123 and that such spacing movements may be varied by rotation of the drum 123 to different positions, in order to provide diflerent tooth spacing.

In normal operation of the photocomposing apparatus above described, it is assumed that the drum 123 will be set at zero or some suitable preselected position and that a line will be typed on the tape 39 with the slide 26 closed to prevent exposure of the photographic film 12. The character spacing in the line will be determined by operation of the character spacing units 48 and the spacing between words will be determined by the spacing of the teeth being utilized on the drum 123. When the end of the line is reached and in order to justify the same, the justifying key 134 will be actuated, which in turn will release the brake shoe 131 from the surface of the drum 123 and due to the fact, that the base 41 is urged forwardly on the slides 43 by the action of the carriage, the drum 123 will then rotate to permit movement of the carriage to the end of the line. This will result in bringing another portion of the teeth 124 on the drum 123 into engagement with the escapement mechanism 135 and since the pitch of the teeth 124 change, upon rotation of the drum 123, it will be seen that this movement of the drum will result in providing the proper spacing to justify the lines of characters.

The justifying key 134 is then released to permit engagement of the brake shoe 131 with the surface of the drum 123, which holds such drum in the position determined by the remaining length of lines and the slide 26 is then actuated to open the aperture 27, at which time the line is re-typed and due to the fact, that the pitch of the teeth 124 on the drum 123 has been changed, the spaces between words will be enlarged or contracted in accordance with the number of words in the line, to justify the same and end the line at the same predetermined point. Since the aperture 27 in the slide 26 is open, this will result in exposing the photographic film 12, by reason of the fact, that each type bar 19 is provided with an upstanding frame 156, which serves to carry a transparent character outline 15''? which may be of the lower case variety and an upper case outline 158. Of course, the character outlines may be varied, as desired. As a result of this arrangement, the character outlines 157 or 158 depending upon whether or not the shift key 17 is depressed, will be disposed in the path of the light beam 29 and since such light beam will pass through the transparent character outline, the same will be projected onto the surface of the photographic film 12 resulting in exposing of such film and upon proper de- 11 velopment thereof, the character will, of course, appear on the film.

There has thus been provided a photoeomposing apparatus in which a line may first be typed on a tape 39 and after justification of such line, the apparatus may be operated to suitably expose a photographic film. As described above, the spacing for each character is determined in accordance with the size of that character and likewise, there has been provided, as fully described above, a justifying mechanism for justifying each line of printing.

Also, as described above, there has been provided back spacing mechanism which permits correction of an error and also permits back spacing in accordance with the proper spacing of the character erroneously actuated. As will be seen, the photocomposing apparatus of this invention is relatively compact and since the degree of accuracy of the character spacing and the word spacing depends, almost entirely, on the cooperating ratchet teeth and escapement mechanisms and since these mechanisms are subject to very little wear, the accuracy of the apparatus will be maintained over a long period of time. The various control lever and linkage systems utilized in this apparatus are of relatively simple construction and, consequently, maintenance work is reduced to a minimum.

It should also be noted that by changing the pinion gear 47 and the lens system 35 that various point sizes could he obtained and, furthermore, any desired type face may be provided on the type bars.

As mentioned above, this apparatus may be easily adapted to permit kerning which allows selective reduction of intercharacter spacing, so that when the conformation of adjacent characters is such as would ordinarily result in the illusion that some characters were more widely spaced than others, such characters may be caused to kern and thus produce the appearance of even spacing.

This kerning operation may be accomplished by providing an additional ratchet wheel on the shaft 46 and by providing a mechanism similar to the back spacing mechanism shown in Fig. 16, in which case the cam 118 would be operated by a kerning key provided on the keyboard of the apparatus, upon the actuation of which, the operation of another key to actuate the kerning back spacing mechanism would result in moving the carriage rearwardly an amount proportionate to the character spacing 3d and thereby provide the appearance of uniform spacing for all of the characters. This particular kerning mechanism is not disclosed or described in detail in this application but, as stated above, the same may be incorporated in the machine of this invention with little modification.

This invention also contemplates the provision of justifying apparatus for a typewriter and such apparatus is shown in 27 in conjunction with a typewriter 159 having a frame Md and provided with the usual keys 161 mounted on key bars 162, shift keys 163 and a space bar 164. The keys loft and .7162 serve to operate type bars, not shown, in the conventional manner. The typewriter 159 is provided v. usual carriage 165 having a platen M5 for receiving and feeding a sheet of paper and there may be also provided a left hand marginal stop 167 which may he adjustably positioned to indicate the desired point at wh 1 a properly justified line should end.

Morin on the the typewriter 159 and secured to the frame lad is a platform 16% which serves to slidably support an extensible and retractable carriage control unit 169 slidably mounted on the platform 168.

The carriage control unit 169 may conveniently cornprise a spacing slide 171 and a plurality of character slides 171, 172, 173, 174, 175 and 176, all telescopically related. Character slide 176 is connected by an arm 177 with the carriage 1&5 and movement of the carriage 165 toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 27, will result in extending the carriage control unit Md to full length, as shown in Fig. 27, and movement of the carriage 1165 toward the left is controlled by such control unit 169 in a manner to be presently described.

Each character slide is provided in its upper surface with ratchet teeth 178 and the pitch of such teeth are different for each slide. The pitch of such teeth are determined by the character spacing of the characters to be utilized and the character slide utilized for such spacing will be determined by the particular key 161 which is actuated. T he spacing slide 174 is provided with an escapenient mechanism 179 which cooperates with the ratchet teeth 173 on the character slide 171 and similarly each slide 171., 172, 173, 174 and 175 are provided with escapeinent mechanisms 179 which cooperate with the teeth on the next smaller character slide. Each escapement mechanism is provided with an actuating cam 18% provided with a laterally projecting arm 131 and each of these arms 181 project into the path of movement of an elongated tab 182 fixed to a rock shaft E83 mounted in upstanding brackets 1184 attached to the platform 168. It is to be noted, that there is a rock shaft 183 for each escapement mechanism ll79.

The rock shaft 183 are operated through suitable links or flexible elements 185 which in turn are attached to rock shaft 186 mounted in downwardly extending brackets 187 attached to the platform 163 and the rock shafts 186 are provided with ears 186 fixed thereto which are engaged by pins 189 mounted on push rods 1%. Push rods 1% in turn are operated by links or suitable flexible elements 191 by operation of the keys 1611 and key bars 162 and it is to be noted, that there is one push rod for each key bar 162. The ears 183 will be provided on apropriate rock shafts 186 in order to provide the proper spacing for characters being utilized and whereby the proper escapement 179 will be actuated to permit movement of the appropriate character slide thereby producing the proper movement of the carriage 165 and proper spacing printed on the paper carried thereby.

Rotatably mounted on the platform 16% is a charac ter spacing drum 1% and the axis of this drum is substantially parallel to the axis of the carriage control unit 169. The drum 192 is provided with a spirally disposed, variable pitch ratchet teeth H3 in the same manner, as described above, in connection with the photo-composing appaartus and the drum 192 is urged in one direction by a similar spiral spring or other suitable equivalent scans and such drum 192 is held in position by a brake mechanism controlled by a justifying key 194 on the front of the typewriter 159 adjacent the keyboard. As in the photocomposing apparatus, above described, the ratchet teeth 193 on the justifying drum 192 controls the spacing between words and for this purpose, there is provided on the spacing slide 170 an escapement mechanism 195 having an actuating cam 196 provided with a laterally extending operating arm 197 disposed in the path of movement of a. tab 1% fixed to a rock shaft 199 supported in the brackets 134. The rock shaft 293 is actuated through a suitable link or cable 200 by the space bar 164.

'In operation, the justifying drum 1% Will be set at zero position and a dummy line typed which will result in providing the total number of character spaces, as well as word spaces and upon reaching the end of the line the justifying key 194 will be operated to release the brake on the drum 192, at which time, the drum will be rotated by the force of the escapement 19S exerted on the teeth 193 thereby permitting movement of the carriage toward the left to the position indicated by the marginal stop 167. Release of the justifying key 19 permits application of the brake to the drum thereby holding the drum in adjusted position and since the teeth are provided with a variable pitch, as fully described above, this will result in automatically justifying the line of printing and such line is thereafter typed on the paper and the spaces between Words is determined by the pitch 13 of the teeth 193 on the drum 192 thereby providing a properly justified line which terminates, as indicated by the marginal stop 167.

The above described justifying apparatus is extremely effective and accurate in operation and, as described, may be conveniently incorporated in a conventional typewriter. A high degree of accuracy by reason of the fact, that the only wear points which will effect the spacing is the teeth on the spacing slides and the teeth on the drum 192 as well as the dogs of each escapement. Since these parts may be suitably hardened, wear is reduced to a minimum and suitable accuracy will be maintained over a long period of time.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A photocomposing apparatus comprising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, means for intermittently feeding film from said magazine, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed from said magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a type face on each type bar, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said 7 type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a paper tape, means for feeding said tape in juxtaposition to said type bars in operative position whereby each type face prints a character on said tape, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carrige, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the Widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a keyway in said shaft, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, a last character ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent the opposite end, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding Wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, a last escapement mounted on said frame and cooperating with said last wheel to control the step by step rotation of all of said wheels and said shaft and the resulting movement of said carriage, a pawl on each additional wheel and said last wheel, said pawls permitting rotation of said wheels relative to said shaft in one direction and engageable with said keyway upon rotation of said shaft by the return movement of said carriage to return said Wheels to starting position, a ring surrounding each wheel and fixed against rotation, an escapement actuating thimble slidably mounted in each ring, cam means for moving each thimble axially to actuate each escapement, a plurality of rock shafts mounted on said frame, an arm slidably and non-rotatably mounted on each rock shaft, means connecting each arm with one of said cam means, means connecting said rock shafts and said keys to operate said rock shafts in response to operation of said keys, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and cooperating with the teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, spring means for rotating said drum in one direction, a brake for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually operable key for releasing said brake and linkage means operable by said space bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number of character spaces and word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement to justify such line of printing.

2.. A photocomposing apparatus comprising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, means for intermittently feeding film from said magazine, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed from said magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a type face on each type bar, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carriage, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a keyway in said shaft, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plu rality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, a last character ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent the opposite end, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding Wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, a last escapement mounted on said frame and cooperating with said last wheel to control the step by step rotation of all of said wheels and said shaft and the resulting movement of said carriage, a pawl on each additional wheel and said last wheel, said pawls permitting rotation of said wheels relative to said shaft in one direction and engageable with said keyway upon rotation of said shaft by the return movement of said carriage to return said wheels to starting position, a ring surrounding each wheel and fixed against rotation, an escapement actuating thimble slidably mounted in each ring, cam means for moving each thimble axially to actuate each escapement, a plurality of rock shafts mounted on said frame, an arm slidably and non-rotatably mounted on each rock shaft, means connecting each arm with one of said cam means, means connecting said rock shafts and said keys to operate said rock shafts in response to operation of said keys, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and cooperating with the teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, spring means for rotating said drum in one direction, a brake for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually operable key for releasing said brake and linkage means operable by said space bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number of character spaces and word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement tojustify such line of printing 3. A photocomposing apparatus comprising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, means for intermittently feeding film from said magazine, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed by said magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a type face on each type bar, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack baron said carriage, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a keyway in said shaft, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, a last character ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent the opposite end, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional Wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, a last escapement mounted on said frame and cooperating with said last wheel to control the step by step rotation of all of said wheels and said shaft and the resulting movement of said carriage, a pawl on each additional Wheel and said last wheel, said pawls permitting rotation of said wheels relative to said shaft in one direction and engageable with said keyway upon rotation of said shaft by the return movement of said carriage to return said wheels to starting position, means to actuate each escapement, a plurality of rock shafts mounted on said frame, an arm slidably and non-rotatably mounted on each rock shaft, means connecting each arm with one of said escapement actuating means, means connecting said rock shafts and said keys to operate said rock shafts in response to operation of said keys, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said' drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and cooperating with the teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, spring means for rotating said drum in one direction, a brake for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually operable key for releasing said brake and linkage means operable by said space bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number of character spaces and Word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement to justify such line of printing.

4. A photocomposing apparatus comprising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, means for intermittently feeding film from said magazine, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed fromsaid magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a type face on each type bar, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carriage, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, a last character ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent the opposite end, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each Wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding Wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, a last escapement mounted on said frame and cooperating with said last wheel to' control the step by step rotation ofv all of said wheels and said shaft and the resulting movement of said carriage, means permitting rotation of said wheels relative to said shaft in one direction and engageable with said shaft upon rotation of said shaft by the return movementof said carriage to return said wheels to starting position, meansto actuate each escapement, a pluraltiy of rock shaftsmounted on said frame, an arm slidably and non-rotatably mounted on each rock shaft,

means connecting each arm with one of said escapement actuating means, means connecting said rock shafts and said keys to operate said rock shafts in response to operation of said keys, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, spring means for rotating said drum in one direction, a brake for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually operable key for releasing said brake and linkage means operable by saidspace bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number, of character spaces and word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement to justify such line of printing.

5. A photocomposing apparatus comprising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, means for intermittently feeding film from said magazine, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed from said magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a type face on each type bar, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carriage, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of character to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, a last character ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent the opposite end, the teeth on each Wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding Wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding Wheel, a last escapement mounted on said frame and cooperating with said last wheel to control the step by step rotation of all of said wheels and said shaftand the resulting movement of said carriage, means permitting rotation of said wheels relative to said shaft in one direction and engageable with said shaft upon rotation of said shaft by the return movement of said carriage to return said wheels to starting position, means to actuate each escapement, a plurality of rock shafts mounted on said frame, means connecting each rock shaft with one of said escapement actuating means, means connecting said rock shafts and said keys to operate said rock shafts in response to operation of said keys, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and cooperating with the teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, means for rotating said drum in one direction, a brake for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually opera'ble'key for releasing said brake and linkage means operable by said space bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number of character spaces and word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement to justify such line of printing.

6. A photocomposing apparatus comprising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said" frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed from said magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carriage,-rnechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, a last character ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent the opposite end, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other Wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each Wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional Wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding Wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, a last escapement mounted on said frame and cooperating with said last wheel to control the step by step rotation of all of said wheels and said shaft and the resulting movement of said carriage, means permitting rotation of said wheels relative to said shaft in one direction and engageable with said shaft upon rotation of said shaft by the return movement of said carriage to return said wheels to starting position, means to actuate each escapement, a plurality of rock shafts mounted on said frame, means connecting each rock shaft with one of said escapement actuating means, means connecting said rock shafts and said keys to operate said rock shafts in response to operation of said keys, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and cooperating with the teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, means for rotating said drum in one direction, a brake for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually operable key for releasing said brake and linkage means operable by said space bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number of character spaces and word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement to justify such line of printing.

7. A photocomposing apparatus comprising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed from said magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carriage, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, a last character ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent the opposite end, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance withthe pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, a last escapement mounted on said frame and cooperating with said last wheel to control the step by step rotation of all of said wheels and said shaft and the resulting movement of said carriage, means permitting rotation of said wheels relative to said shaft in one direction and engageable with said shaft upon rotation of said shaft by the return movement of said carriage to return said wheels to starting position, means connected to each key to actuate each escapement, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and coop crating with the teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, means for rotating said drum in one direction, a brake for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually operable key for releasing said brake and linkage means operable by said space bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number of character spaces and word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement to justify such line of printing.

8. A photocomposing apparatus com-prising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed from said magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carriage, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising .a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably" mounted on said shaft, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each wheel corresponding tothe width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the neXt preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, means permitting rotation of said wheels relative to said shaft in one direction and engageable with said shaft upon rotation of said shaft by the return movement of said carriage to return said wheels to starting position, means connected to each key to actuate each escapement, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and cooperating with the teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, means for rotating said drum in one direction, a brake for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually operable key for releasing said brake and linkage means operable by said space bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number of character spaces and word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement to justify such line of printing.

9. A photocomposing apparatus comprising a frame, a carriage slidably mounted on said frame, a photographic film magazine on said carriage, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed from said magazine, said housing having an aperture to admit light rays to a limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a light beam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a transparent character outline mounted on each type bar, a plurality of finger engaging keys providing a keyboard for actuating said type bars to move said character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type bars to actuate said shutter and expose said film to provide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carriage, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding Wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, means connected to each key to actuate each escapement, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and cooperating with the teeth 'on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, means for rotating said drum in one direction, a

arm-e1 mba p t n iaerqta 'sa d mtn lm nua y operablev key .for releasing said brake, andzlinkage rneans a carriageslidably mounted on said frame, -a photo- I graphic film magazine on said carriage, a lightproof housing enclosing film fed from said, magazine, said housing having an aperture toiadmit light raystoa limited area of said film to expose the same, a shutter for momentarily opening and closing said aperture, a light source providing a lightbeam focused on said aperture, a plurality of type bars pivotally mounted on said frame, a transparent character outline mounted ,on each-type bar, a plurality ,of finger engaging keys providinga keyboard for actuatingtsaid type bars to move said, character outline into alignment with said aperture and light beam, shutter operating mechanism operable by said type barsto actuate said shutter and expose said filmtoprovide an image of said character thereon, a shift key and a space bar on said keyboard, a rack bar on said carriage, mechanism for controlling step by step forward movements of said carriage in accordance with the widths of characters to be printed and the spaces between words, said mechanism comprising a base slidably mounted on said frame for movement parallel to the movement of said carriage, a shaft rotatably mounted on said base, a pinion fixed to said shaft and meshing with said rack bar, a first character ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft adjacent one end, a plurality of additional character ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on said shaft, the teeth on each wheel having a pitch different from the teeth on other wheels, the pitch of the teeth on each wheel corresponding to the width of a character or group of characters on said type bars, an escapement mechanism carried by each additional wheel and cooperating with the teeth on the next preceding wheel to control step by step rotation of all preceding wheels and said shaft to advance said carriage step by step in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said next preceding wheel, means connected to each key to actuate each escapement, a justifying drum rotatably mounted on said frame, a plurality of spirally disposed ratchet teeth on said drum, the pitch of said last named teeth continuously increasing from one end of said drum to the other, a spacing escapement on said base and cooperating with the teeth on said drum to control the step by step movement of said base in accordance with the pitch of the teeth on said drum, stop means for preventing rotation of said drum, a manually operable key for releasing said stop means and linkage means operable by said space bar to actuate said spacing escapement whereby upon determining the number of character spaces and word spaces in a line of printing said drum may be rotated to provide the proper pitch of the teeth thereon in engagement with said spacing escapement to justify such line of printing.

11; A photocomposing apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the means connecting said rock shafts and said keys includes a pair of bell crank levers for each key, means connecting one arm of each bell crank lever with the appropriate rock shaft, a V-groove in the other arm of each bell crank lever, a rocker arm for each key pivotally mounted on a shaft, a V-surface on one end of each rocker arm for engaging in said V-groove, means connecting the other end of each rocker arm with each key, spring means urging said shaft and said rocker arms into one position where said rocker arms will engage one of each pair of bell crank levers and linkage means operable by said shift key to move said shaft and rocker arms to another position where said rocker arms will engage the other one of each pair of bell crank levers whereby, thelproperescapements; will be actuated, in, ac .cordancewith the upper, or lower case characters fbeing printed. v

-12.cA photocomposing apparatus as defined in claim l in which the means connecting said rock shafts and said keys includes a pair of bell crank, levers foreach key, means connecting one arm of each bell crank, lever with theapropriate rock shaft, a groove in the other arm of each bell crank lever, a rocker arm for each key pivotally mounted on a shaft, ,a surface on one end of each rocker arm for engaging in said groove, means connecting the other end of each rocker arm with each key, spring means urging said shaft and said rocker arms into one position where said rocker arms will engage one of each pair of bellcrank levers and linkage means, operable by said shift key to move said shaft and rocker arms to another position where said, rocker arms will engage the other one of each pair of bell crank levers whereby the proper escapements will be actuated in accordancewith the upper or lower case characters being printed.

13. A photocomposing apparatus as defined in claim l in which the means connecting said rockshafts and said keys includes a pairof bell crank levers foreach key, means connecting one arm of each bell crank lever with the appropriate rock shaft, a groove in the other arm of each bell crank lever, a rocker arm for each key pivotally mounted on a shaft, a surface on one end of each rocker arm for engaging in said groove, means connecting the other end of each rocker arm with each key, means urging said shaft and said rocker arms into one position where said rocker arms will engage one of each pair of bell crank levers and means operable by said shift key to move said shaft and rocker arms to another position where said rocker arms will engage the other one of each pair of bell crank levers whereby the proper escapements will be actuated in accordance with the upper or lower case characters being printed.

14. A photocomposing apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the means connecting said rock shafts and said keys includes a pair of bell crank levers for each key, means connecting one arm of each bell crank lever with the appropriate rock shaft, a rocker arm for each key pivotally mounted on a shaft, means on one end of each rocker arm for engaging said bell crank lever, means connecting the other end of each rocker arm with each key, means urging said shaft and said rocker arms into one position where said rocker arms will engage one of each pair of bell crank levers and means operable by said shift key to move said shaft and rocker arms to another position where said rocker arms will engage the other one of each pair of bell crank levers whereby the proper escapements will be actuated in accordance with the upper or lower case characters being printed.

15. A photocomposing apparatus as defined in claim 1 including back spacing mechanism comprising a lever pivotally mounted below each ratchet wheel, a pawl pivotally mounted on said lever on each side of the mounting thereof, said pawls extending upwardly on opposite sides of each ratchet wheel, spring means urging said pawls into engagement with the teeth on the associated ratchet wheel, cam means for moving said pawls out of engagement with the teeth on the associated ratchet wheel, an arm slidably and non-rotatably mounted on each rock shaft and connected to each lever for moving the same in one direction and rotating the associated ratchet wheel in a reverse direction, spring means for moving each lever in the opposite direction and a back spacing key for actuating said cam means to render said back spacing mechanism operative or inoperative.

16. A photocomposing apparatus as defined in claim 1 including back spacing mechanism comprising a lever pivotally mounted below each ratchet wheel, a pawl pivotally mounted on said lever on each side of the mounting thereof, said pawls extending upwardly on opposite sides of each ratchet wheel, means urging said pawls into engagement with the teeth on the associated ratchet wheel, cam means for moving said pawls out of engagement with the teeth on the associated ratchet wheel, means mounted on each rock shaft and connected to each lever for moving the same in one direction and rotating the associated ratchet wheel in a reverse direction, means for moving each lever in the opposite direction and a hack spacing key for actuating said cam means to render said back spacing mechanism operative or inoperative.

17. A photocomposing apparatus as defined in claim lincluding back spacing mechanism comprising a lever pivotally mounted below each ratchet wheel, a pawl pivotally mounted on said lever on each side of the mounting thereof, said pawls extending upwardly on opposite sides of each ratchet wheel, means urging said pawls into engagement with the teeth on the associated ratchet wheel, cam means for moving said pawls out of engagement with the teeth on the associated ratchet Wheel, means mounted on each rock shaft and connected to each lever for moving the same in one direction and rotating the associated ratchet Wheel in a reverse direction, and a back spacing key for actuating said cam means to render said back spacing mechanism operative or inoperative.

18. A photocomposing apparatus as defined in claim 1 including back spacing mechanism comprising a lever pivotally mounted below each ratchet wheel, a pawl pivotally mounted on said lever, said pawl extending upwardly on one side of each ratchet wheel, means urging said pawl into engagement with the teeth on the associated ratchet wheel, cam means for moving said pawl out of engagement with the teeth on the associated ratchet wheel, means mounted on each rock shaft and connected to each lever for moving the same in one direction and rotating the associated ratchet wheel in a reverse direction, and a back spacing key for actuating said cam means to render said back spacing mechanism operative or inoperative.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,693,796 OBryan Dec. 4, 1928 1,732,049 Hunter Oct. 15, 1929 2,178,379 Spievak Oct. 31, 1939 2,379,862 Bush July 10, 1945 2,714,842 Hooven Aug. 9, 1955 

